The Day The Earth Stood Still: A quick word

You know … Boring night’s in, on your todd, can be … 

Umm … 

Well, boring, to be frank.

Unless you’ve got something to do or watch, of course.

Actually … I had both.

I had a digital copy of The Day The Earth Stood Still: the 2008 remake, I should add, and something I’ve seen, enjoyed and written about before.

Definitely something to watch.

What tickled me … ?   Was the simple fact I actually managed to catch it on Dirty Gerty, the Media Strumpet.

Hmmm … 

You’re bemused, again, aren’t you … ?

~~~~~

Allow me to do a bit of explaining.

You’ve probably VERY aware I’m a bit of a Mac fan: and one on a bit of a budget, frankly.

But one that who’d been given an aging G4 PowerMac by some of my next door neighbours, who are soon to move out and wanted to save space on the lorry: I have to admit, I happily gave Andy and Claire a polite thank you, and can only wish them well, when they do move.

After all, they’ve given me something to do for a while, along with a cheap media machine.

You see, with nothing else on, last night, I hooked up the G4 up to Bruce — my 2007 Model Mac Mini — through what’s called FireWire Target Disc Mode.

Mostly to get any extraneous stuff off the machine, and transfer a couple of films over.

Which, I should add, worked nicely.

Once that was done … ?

I hooked Gerty up to my TV, changed over to the VGA channel.

And floated around to see how she blew.

~~~~~

Actually … 

She blew rather well.

He says … !

OK, The Day The Earth Stood Still came out looking rather choppy: going by the usual information pane I was able to access doing viewing, the film was going at about half the frame it should have been.

On the OTHER hand … ?

That’s not something I was too worried about, not when I on my own.   (With visitors, I’d be rewiring Bruce.)

And it did make for an interesting viewing experience.

Here … 

Let me leave you with what I thought of the film …

The Day The Earth Stood Still

★★★☆

Introducing Dirty Gerty

You know, I’ve GOT to be frank, it’s — occasionally — nice to be able to get retro, isn’t it?

It is.

And I’ll be frank, it’s nice to do that with the help of the neighbours.

Frankly, the young couple who live upstairs are moving out.

And let me have the G4 PowerMac their son had been using as a websurfing machine.

Personally … ?

I think I’d like to do a little reinstalling if I can find a copy of Mac OS X 10•4•x.

For the moment, however … ?

I haver managed to install the relevant versions of both HandBrake and vlc: simply by transferring the disc images over by booting the G4 in FireWire Target Disc Mode.

We’ll have to see if I can’t do SOMETHING with the old girl … 

The Daily Teaser — 23-09-2012

Now this’ll sound weird … 

But does anyone have a spare monitor, keyboard, mouse, kettle lead and a copy of Mac OS X 10•4•x … ?

Anyone … ?

I’ll admit, I’m cadging: and for a reason.   One of my neighbours has given me an old G4 PowerMac tower: unfortunately, without the relevant bits and bobs.

Hmmm … 

OK … 

Look’s I’m going to have go on the serious scrounge.

Let’s get moving on, shall we?

~~~~~

Yes, let’s … !

Yesterday’s Teaser saw both Debbi and Grub putting their answers in.   With Debbi gently reminding me to save a few pirate tunes for my nephew, Jude*, it saw both bagging 8 out of 8.

Let’s see how they — and you — do with today’s Equinoxº questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, license and video … 

Q1) 23rd September, 2012 is this years’s Autumnal Equinox: in which hemisphere?

Q2) More to the point, which equinox is it, in the other hemisphere … ?

Q3) Even MORE to the point, the equinox marks the time of year when what are of equal length … ?

Q4) As a final equinoctial question … In which year did Jean Michel Jarré release his Equinoxe album … ?

Q5) 23rd September, 1845, saw the founding of the Knickerbockers Baseball Club: in which US city … ?

Q6) 23rd September, 1980, saw Bob Marley perform the last concert of his life: what was the name of his last UK Top Forty hit, during his lifetime … ?

Q7) And finally … 23rd September, 2000, saw which British sportsman win their fifth Olympic gold … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 22nd September saw the birth of two of the characters of the Lord of the Rings novels: name either of them …    A1) Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

Q2) More to the point, those two characters belonged to which family … ?   A2) The Baggins family.

Q3) Even MORE to the point … both those characters famously carried … what … ?   A3) The One Ring.

Q4) Moving on … 22nd September, 1957, saw François Duvalier elected as President of where … ?   A4) Haiti.

Q5) More to the point, what was his nickname … ?   A5) Papa Doc.

Q6) 22nd September, 1914, saw three Royal Navy ships sunk: by a German what … ?   A6) Submarine.

Q7) 22nd September, 1955, saw ITV — Britain’s first commercial TV station — go on air: what does ITV stand for … ?   A7) Independent Television.

Q8) And finally … 22nd September, 1991, saw the Huntington Library — near Pasadena, in California — make which scrolls available to the public … ?   A8) The Dead Sea Scrolls.

Enjoy those, everyone.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mickey Rooney …

“When I say I do, the justice of the peace replies, ‘I know, I know…’”Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jnr, September 23, 1920)

And considering to is the 103rd anniversary of the first publication of The Phantom Of the Opera in Le Gaulois magazine, I’ll leave you with Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, doing their thing … 

*        Actually, Debbi, did I tell you … ?   He’s walking … !   Bless her, Anna, my other sister, sent me the video, last night … !

º        Yes, I know, I know … I got my dates mixed upª.   Play fair, though, it’s not THAT often it happens.

ª        Frankly … ?   I’m blaming Jimmy Wales …